


Goodnight

by NeverAndAlways



Category: Pacific Rim (2013)
Genre: Cute Kids, Domestic Fluff, Established Relationship, Family Fluff, Gen, Grumpy Hermann Gottlieb, M/M, Parenthood, Post Mpreg
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-15
Updated: 2015-11-15
Packaged: 2018-05-01 16:23:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,021
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5212640
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NeverAndAlways/pseuds/NeverAndAlways
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Hermann isn't used to dealing with children.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Goodnight

**Author's Note:**

> The last few days have been kind of awful, and I needed some fluff. That's my only excuse.

"Hermann?"

The mathematician turns around from his chalkboard. His husband is wading toward him through the ever-present chaos of the lab, holding their daughter with one arm. He pushes aside a specimen tray and pauses to give Hermann a small, lopsided smile and a "hey".

"What do you need, Newton?" he's in the middle of an equation; whatever it is, he hopes it can wait.

"Can you watch Annie for a bit? I'm tryna finish a cross-section of that brainstem I got, and I need both hands." Newt holds out the three-month-old, who's currently chewing on her fingers. Hermann glances from her to his chalkboard.

"I thought she was napping?"

"Well that's the thing: I put her down for a nap, but she's fussy. And I don't wanna just leave her in her crib like that." he smoothes down her flyaway hair. "But daddy can't finish his project if he has to hold you at the same time...!" he's addressing her now; his husband is all but forgotten. Hermann coughs politely to remind him.

"Newton, I have five sets of calculations-"

"It'll only take like an hour, Herms. Or two. Promise. Annie's too little to be exposed to kaiju blue, otherwise I'd keep her with me."

Finally Hermann relents and puts down his chalk. "I would have said yes if you'd given me the chance to speak." he says, half-joking. Newt's lopsided grin comes back. He hands the baby to his husband and kisses her forehead. Then he kisses Hermann too, a quick peck on the lips. His glasses and hair, Hermann notices, are spattered blue.

"You're awesome."

"And you're covered in kaiju blood." Hermann smirks.

"Yeah, probably." he shrugs, then laughs as Hermann shooes him away with his cane. "Alright, alright, I'm going!" he ambles away back toward his side of the lab. "Two hours."

 

Once they're alone, Hermann looks down at his daughter. The little three-month-old is already gumming industriously at his tie. "Well. It's just you and me now, Anthea. What shall we do, hm?" no answers are forthcoming, so he limps to a nearby table. "First things first, let's make things a little more comfortable..." there's a length of fabric laying folded on the table, in amongst the books and odds-and-ends. He picks it up, unfolds and drapes it over his shoulder - still holding onto Anthea - and a minute later she's tucked in snugly against his front. She peers up at him from the depths of the sling as though offended by the whole idea. "Oh, don't look at me like that, you're the one who refused a nap. There's no need to scowl at me." Hermann returns to his chalkboard. His equations loom. "Where was I?" lost his place already, damn it all...no, there it is. Chalk squeaks on chalkboard. "u = x squared plus one, so that du = 2xdx, or (1/2)du = xdx..." numbers and formulas swirl around him, and the world disappears again. Equations like these are his equivalent of a hot bath at the end of a long day. He lets the lab and all its noise melt away around him, completely lost in his work until another noise breaks it. It takes him a moment to even pinpoint where it's coming from. Ceiling? Walls? Nope, right in front of him. He sighs. "What's the matter, liebste? You're diaper's just been changed..." he watches for a few moments as his daughter cries, completely at a loss. Newton is so much better at this sort of thing. Hermann's own parents weren't exactly warm or loving, so he really has no idea what to do here. Talk to her? Walk around? He's tempted to call his husband, but he'll be elbow-deep in kaiju guts now. So he bounces a little on the balls of his feet and shushes her a little, but that just makes his hip hurt. Talking doesn't do much either. In the end he just goes back to work, and lets her cry. She'll wear herself out. Hopefully.

~★~

Newt looks up from his work. The cross-section's done, finally. How long has it been? He looks at the clock; almost three hours. Damn. Newt gets up from his chair, strips off his gloves, washes the remaining kaiju blood off his arms. It occurs to him that things are pretty quiet out there. That could either mean that Hermann has things under control, or he's gone to find Mako. Hopefully the former. He wanders out toward the main lab. Since the day Anthea was born, Hermann was always a little awkward around her. Even before Newt got pregnant, before Anthea was even on the radar, Hermann insisted that he just wasn't good with kids. Seems like this is living proof, and it's got Newt worried. Hermann loves the kid, of course; that's never been in question. He just doesn't seem too comfortable with her. That's not to say Newt's an expert, of course, they're both flying by the seat of their pants here, but...well, anyway. He opens the door to the main lab. It's still quiet; where the hell is everyone? And what's that sound, anyway? Is someone else in here?

"...guten Abend, gute Nacht..."

Newt's just about to call for Hermann at this point. But then he rounds the last corner and there's the mathematician himself, scribbling away at his chalkboard. He's holding Anthea in a sling, casual as anything, and he's...singing?

"...von Englein bewacht, die zeigen im Traum..."

Well. This was unexpected...Doctor Gottlieb, you really do have a heart. He even got Anthea to sleep. Hermann turns a little - still humming - to get a new piece of chalk, and their eyes meet. Newt grins. Hermann's eyes widen for a moment, embarrassed at being seen.

"Want me to take her back?" Newt asks. He knows the answer. Hermann hesitates, looks from his husband to his daughter and back.

"No, she...we're fine." he pauses. "We're fine."

So Newt goes back to his side of the lab, and returns to his specimen trays. That grin never leaves his face. "'Not good with kids'.." he scoffs. He should never have worried.

~~☆☆☆~~ 

**Author's Note:**

> If you liked the story, please leave a comment- I'd love to hear from you!


End file.
